A preferred or enjoyable type of exercise should be part of a weekly fitness plan but it shouldn’t be the only type of exercise that you do. Variety is crucial to a balanced, injury free fitness regime that you will be more apt to stick with. 

You probably know somebody or you yourself are the person who goes full force with one kind of exercise. It could be doing running, yoga or cycling every single day.  When you find an activity that brings joy it’s great to add it into your mix of physical activity but don’t overdo it by doing it every day. 

I can’t tell you how many times I have known people who began running and ended up with acute injuries because they ran and added no other type of exercise to their routine. It’s important to add a balance of core work, stretching or other aerobic or muscle strength activity into the mix. I’ve seen it with avid runners, indoor and outdoor cyclists and with athletes who do one particular sport.

Balance is crucial to an injury-free fitness program that you improve and stick with:

1. Strive for equal amounts of aerobic, strength and flexibility training each week

2. Adding a variety of activity will ensure that your body is consistently challenged so that you don’t plateau or experience adaptive resistance (when your body no longer responds to an exercise)

3. Plateauing and Adaptive Resistance can lead to overuse and repetitive strain injuries as you cause wear and tear on muscles, ligaments or joints

4. Variety is needed for mental and physiological reasons – our mind needs variety in the type of movement to create interest, excitement and prevent boredom leading to dropping off of your fitness routine and goals

Sample Weekly Programs

There is a fine balance between creating enough variety in your weekly fitness regime and maintaining consistency to improve your fitness levels. Create a week of activity that is varied by type of exercise and build on that by adding progressions to those weekly exercises over a month. 

Monday – 45 min. brisk walk

Tuesday – 20-30 min. tabata, interval training or bootcamp followed by stretching

Wednesday – One hour yoga Class

Thursday – 45 min. core workout and weight training

Friday – One hour bike ride followed by stretch

Saturday – 45 min. total body conditioning

Sunday – 30 min gentle yoga or rest day

There are so many variations of this. Work with what you enjoy and progress the exercises over the month to make improvements. Ensuring variety is at the forefront of your exercise plan impacts improvements, injuries and motivation to continue.

About Kimberly Hicks-Ruttan
I’m the founder of Fit2Move - virtual fitness in your home, on your own time. I am a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer. Connect with me on Facebook where I run a FREE group called Fit Tips with Kimberly or try a class on my onpodio website.